Replaced Voodoo Engine

[MulhollandMonster]

That's typical UAW behavior. He may be promoted actually. The end of line testing is supposed to be a ramp up in load, not an immediate run up.

100%

 

[Atlas1]

another one for the list......
i've been looking at 18's and last month at pierre ford in seattle they had a 17 with 1k miles on the used lot. pretty sure it was a ford buyback. motor was replaced due to oil consumption. chassis number was H3298.

seeing this issue is making it really difficult to take the plunge and buy a shelby. i've been looking since 2016 and now that the market has softened enough to buy at msrp or lower, enough data is in that has me very hesitant. i try to look at every new one that hits the dealer lots in my area and have yet to see one that did not have some kind of fit/finish issue. at this price point it takes a heck of a package to overlook that, but to also think that the engine is a potential time bomb? i'm starting to look at grand sports pretty hard. would be great if ford had something to say on this before its too late for me to purchase a 19 and i end up in a vette.

 

[UnhandledException]

Almost 30k miles now. Burns 1qt/1500 miles since day one. Daily driver. Its like a tank.

 

[300blackout]

Almost 30k miles now. Burns 1qt/1500 miles since day one. Daily driver. Its like a tank.

That's awesome! I wish all Voodoo engines were built like yours!

 

[UnhandledException]

I am pretty sure substantial portion of these failures happened because owners drove these cars like a regular car and did not pay attention to details and took care of them. I am also sure some of the engines failed even though owners took good care of their engines and didnt do something inappropriate

Things I did extra which may have helped:

- Car was garage kept where the garage temp is never lower than 60 in winter and over 80 in summer (summer temp doesnt matter much). If car spends nights in sub freezing temps for several nights, that heat cycling is no good.

- Even in the coldest days, never idled the car until oil temp is at least 160F. Always drove away cold start. Always rev the engine to 3500 rpm even in the harshest conditions. The longer 50 weight oil circulates the worse things are

- Always change oil 4000 miles or less

- Taped the entire front end of the car in winter except the top middle section to keep oil and other fluid temps high

 

[galaxy]

another one for the list......
i've been looking at 18's and last month at pierre ford in seattle they had a 17 with 1k miles on the used lot. pretty sure it was a ford buyback. motor was replaced due to oil consumption. chassis number was H3298.

seeing this issue is making it really difficult to take the plunge and buy a shelby. i've been looking since 2016 and now that the market has softened enough to buy at msrp or lower, enough data is in that has me very hesitant. i try to look at every new one that hits the dealer lots in my area and have yet to see one that did not have some kind of fit/finish issue. at this price point it takes a heck of a package to overlook that, but to also think that the engine is a potential time bomb? i'm starting to look at grand sports pretty hard. would be great if ford had something to say on this before its too late for me to purchase a 19 and i end up in a vette.

I truly, truly, truly, understand and empathize these issues are aggravating. Heck, I'm here too. But as i quietly sit back and soak in all the discussions on these problems, I've tried to run some ballpark math in my head and I think we're still only able to compare enough numbers that we are single digit % failure rate on these engines. It is far from a ticking time bomb. Forums add entirely too much hype to situations like this unfortunately. Gotta be smart enough to see through it. There is greater than a 91% chance you'll have no major engine problems. Now I don't know about you, but I'm a glass half full kinda guy, and that's a pretty good number for me. Want 100% on something? I don't know where you'll get that. You think you're gonna get that GS and not have similar odds of some goofy problem? Good luck. Might want to go jump on some corvette forums for a while.

 

[Front Runner]

another one for the list......
i've been looking at 18's and last month at pierre ford in seattle they had a 17 with 1k miles on the used lot. pretty sure it was a ford buyback. motor was replaced due to oil consumption. chassis number was H3298.

seeing this issue is making it really difficult to take the plunge and buy a shelby. i've been looking since 2016 and now that the market has softened enough to buy at msrp or lower, enough data is in that has me very hesitant. i try to look at every new one that hits the dealer lots in my area and have yet to see one that did not have some kind of fit/finish issue. at this price point it takes a heck of a package to overlook that, but to also think that the engine is a potential time bomb? i'm starting to look at grand sports pretty hard. would be great if ford had something to say on this before its too late for me to purchase a 19 and i end up in a vette.

I truly, truly, truly, understand and empathize these issues are aggravating. Heck, I'm here too. But as i quietly sit back and soak in all the discussions on these problems, I've tried to run some ballpark math in my head and I think we're still only able to compare enough numbers that we are single digit % failure rate on these engines. It is far from a ticking time bomb. Forums add entirely too much hype to situations like this unfortunately. Gotta be smart enough to see through it. There is greater than a 91% chance you'll have no major engine problems. Now I don't know about you, but I'm a glass half full kinda guy, and that's a pretty good number for me. Want 100% on something? I don't know where you'll get that. You think you're gonna get that GS and not have similar odds of some goofy problem? Good luck. Might want to go jump on some corvette forums for a while.

I completely understand both perspectives. My GT350 was burning oil excessively, which I personally deemed unsatisfactory for a new car that wasn't abused. I had to add a total of about 4-5 quarts over the course of 5K miles, excluding when I changed my oil. I've since moved on from my GT350 to a Grand Sport and it was the best move for me.

 

[PP0001]

I truly, truly, truly, understand and empathize these issues are aggravating. Heck, I'm here too. But as i quietly sit back and soak in all the discussions on these problems, I've tried to run some ballpark math in my head and I think we're still only able to compare enough numbers that we are single digit % failure rate on these engines. It is far from a ticking time bomb. Forums add entirely too much hype to situations like this unfortunately. Gotta be smart enough to see through it. There is greater than a 91% chance you'll have no major engine problems. Now I don't know about you, but I'm a glass half full kinda guy, and that's a pretty good number for me. Want 100% on something? I don't know where you'll get that. You think you're gonna get that GS and not have similar odds of some goofy problem? Good luck. Might want to go jump on some corvette forums for a while.

Certainly agree with you doing your ballpark math in order to get some sense of direction regarding various engine failures for these FPC engines regardless if Ford or uninformed owners are at fault.

Having said that and based on your math it is hard for me to comprehend that Ford has had ~1800 engine failures based on producing ~20,000 GT350/R's over the last 3 MY's.

Based on those production numbers I would suggest that the odds of having an engine failure for a GT350/R FPC engine will be well less than ~9%.

 

[galaxy]

Certainly agree with you doing your ballpark math in order to get some sense of direction regarding various engine failures for these FPC engines regardless if Ford or uninformed owners are at fault.

Having said that and based on your math it is hard for me to comprehend that Ford has had ~1800 engine failures based on producing ~20,000 GT350/R's over the last 3 MY's.

Based on those production numbers I would suggest that the odds of having an engine failure for a GT350/R FPC engine will be well less than ~9%.

Oh dude, I completely agree. I didn’t want to low ball it and get slammed, lol. I agree, way less than nine. I’d say less than five. That’s why I just stayed vague by saying single digit. Either way, point being the forums has overinflated this topic tremendously and it’s running off would be suitors like Atlas when the reality is this is an amazing car and the odds of getting a bad engine are extremely low.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I"m part of the GT350 facebook group.

One individual, who claims he works at the Ford plant where these cars are assembled, claims as soon as the car is finished, HE takes it to a roller dyno and immediately starts the car and runs it to redline and "bounced off the redline at FULL throttle"

Since the throttle is electronic, I'm surprised Ford doesn't have something they can plug into the car when on the dyno to perform the EXACT same throttle program for each one to eliminate employee "errors".

But as to doing it cold, FWIW Cadillac had some suspect bearings and they did not have records of which exact batches went into which cars or exactly which batches were involved. They were replacing engines that were already sold as they failed and the only way to find the bad ones still on the lots was to tell dealers to rev the ^%$& out of them and order a replacement engine if they failed that.[/QUOTE]

 

[Hack]

another one for the list......
i've been looking at 18's and last month at pierre ford in seattle they had a 17 with 1k miles on the used lot. pretty sure it was a ford buyback. motor was replaced due to oil consumption. chassis number was H3298.

seeing this issue is making it really difficult to take the plunge and buy a shelby. i've been looking since 2016 and now that the market has softened enough to buy at msrp or lower, enough data is in that has me very hesitant. i try to look at every new one that hits the dealer lots in my area and have yet to see one that did not have some kind of fit/finish issue. at this price point it takes a heck of a package to overlook that, but to also think that the engine is a potential time bomb? i'm starting to look at grand sports pretty hard. would be great if ford had something to say on this before its too late for me to purchase a 19 and i end up in a vette.

The car does come with a full warranty. If you are one of the few unlucky people who get an engine with a problem, or you accidentally do something to destroy your engine, Ford will replace it for you. If you are afraid of the inconvenience of getting an engine replaced and fit/finish is a really important issue to you, then probably going with something safer is a good call. I would recommend a Porsche over a Corvette to get better fit and finish.

I'm at 30k miles in my GT350. Been to the track a few times, run in below zero weather. I broke the car in with a lot of full and no throttle, but no redline for the first 1,000 miles. I especially work hard to avoid lugging the engine. My engine doesn't burn oil.

My car does have fitment issues, but the fun I have driving it, especially at the track is well worth it. You have to decide for yourself whether a car with great panel fitment is more important or whether having a car you will enjoy driving is more important. If you don't go to the track and you go to a lot of car shows you may prefer something else.

 

[Caballus]

Agree that Ford's tendency to replace the engines with little question is good insurance. Perhaps with this car, rather than looking for a perfect engine/vin match, collectors will favor cars whose engines have been replaced. This will reduce the ticking time bomb concerns.

On the other hand, performance and fitment should not be mutually exclusive. Ford failed when it comes to fitment (hence the bumper fix) and excess oil burn and engine failures call performance into question as well. The conclusion that "a few unlucky poeple...get an engine with a problem" or that drivers "accidentally do something to destroy" their engines is totally subjective. A few compared to what? Drivers doing something based on what data? For me, the number of failed engines (and engines that burn more than one qt per 500 miles) is concerning and worth keeping a close eye on. The fitment is sad and is fortunately being addressed. No use crying over spilled milk, but it should't be left to spoil rotten either...

 

[IMDNS]

another one for the list......
i've been looking at 18's and last month at pierre ford in seattle they had a 17 with 1k miles on the used lot. pretty sure it was a ford buyback. motor was replaced due to oil consumption. chassis number was H3298.

seeing this issue is making it really difficult to take the plunge and buy a shelby. i've been looking since 2016 and now that the market has softened enough to buy at msrp or lower, enough data is in that has me very hesitant. i try to look at every new one that hits the dealer lots in my area and have yet to see one that did not have some kind of fit/finish issue. at this price point it takes a heck of a package to overlook that, but to also think that the engine is a potential time bomb? i'm starting to look at grand sports pretty hard. would be great if ford had something to say on this before its too late for me to purchase a 19 and i end up in a vette.

We have no definitive answer to the engine failure but our interpretation of what we know:
- Quite few engines burn oil, most of them are running fine.
- Ford does not allow dealership to investigate the problem. We don't know the cause.

If your interpretation of a small % of engine failure makes you worry, stay away from it.

Fit and finish is just a 'standard feature' of GT350. If you can't stand it now, it will not grown on you later.

Hope this helps.

 

[Hack]

If you are buying a GT350 gambling that it will be worth more than MSRP some day and wanting to make money off the car - I would highly encourage you NOT to buy.

 

[PP0001]

Collectors favoring replacement engines in these GT350's is doubtful imo. Many '69-'70 Boss 302's have replacement service blocks as the piston skirts had been cracking in factory fitted engines way back then. Those cars with service blocks are worth significantly less today, even with having the knowledge of why they were replaced. We'll not know why these FPC 5.2's fail until independent analysis take place for the engines that pop on the owners who have run out of warranty. We will find out but not until Ford is off the hook for the vast majority of them.

Suggesting that collectors should look for GT350/R's with replacement blocks is not only very doubtful but also makes absolutely no economic sense at least from my standpoint.

I remember growing up during the Muscle Car era when some Ford, Mopar, GM and AMC engines would fail under warranty after which time the manufacturers would replace most of the engines in question. In the case of GM these replacement blocks were not stamped with a new VIN but were stamped on the engine pad with a "CE" designation which depending on who you talked to at the time the "CE" stood for "Crate Engine" or "Counter Exchange" engines.

In any event back in the day all of the "Big Three" automotive manufacturers along with AMC supplied replacement HP warranty blocks for many Muscle car owners who's engines failed under warranty.

The value of those same Muscle Cars that are now equipped with replacement blocks are significantly less valuable today than those same cars that have retained their original engine and transmission and there is no question that this same scenario still applies today and even more so in future years with respect to our Shelby GT350/R's.